A mycorrhizal spring
March 2, 2026
It's nearly spring, and so it's time to shift away from all the coding I've been doing in my spare time during the winter to focus more on gardening. My daughter found crocus flowers this morning, so it's coming, despite the small amount of snow in the forecast. I am looking forward to it. The other day I was working on organizing all the pictures I took over the last year (a task I've been doing a little bit of every day for the past month or more) and was surprised by how lush and green everything was in one of them. It's easy to forget that in February in the northeastern United States, even though I'm on the south end of that region.
So, it was perfect timing that I was listening to a podcast about mycorrhizal fungi while doing dishes this evening. It wasn't a foreign concept to me prior to this (I think I first heard about it from the Roots and All podcast), but I've not used any (aside from what's already existing in my garden) because I've been skeptical of the products I've found when looking to buy some. (Thankfully so, given the guest's analysis of some products on the market.) But now there's seemingly a good source, produced by a scientist (yes, that same guest): MycoBloom. Two pounds are already bought and should be shipped my way soon. Can't wait to start adding it to my soil.
Compost bins built
June 10, 2023
After a bit of searching the web, I found a compost bin design I liked, written up in "How to Build a DIY Compost Bin For Rich Amendments" by Sarah Jay. Aside from only doing two bays, I also simplified the design a bit and left off the inner 2x4s on the end pieces, in both front and back.
I'm writing this a year later, and there's been no issues with it, so I'd say it was a success. During the first six months, I was surprised at how quickly the food and yard waste would lose mass. Partly I think this was caused by various animals (birds, fox, and groundhog that I saw in it, and I assume deer, chipmunks, and squirrels too) eating from it, but mostly I assume from water loss. So I started putting in more yard waste, including grass clippings a couple times. One bay is now about half full.
Here's a picture of them just a couple days after being built and placed into a cleared spot, without any front boards on yet:
